


A Distant Cry from Spring

by Orlha



Series: Sakura blossoms in April's showers [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Depression, Featuring Kakashi's Guilt, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mental Health Issues, sakura has a bad childhood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2019-10-17 14:43:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 10,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17562428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orlha/pseuds/Orlha
Summary: AUs from the universe of Early Summer RainEach chp might have their own individual warnings (if any), do take note.





	1. Where Sakura's dies instead of her parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Sakura dies during Pein’s attack instead of her parents and everyone finds out about her abuse after that.

 

Sakura had never been his best student. She was shallow, vain, hot-tempered. She might have been a somewhat dependable medic-nin after Sasuke’s defection, but Kakashi never thought she was good enough to carry the mantle of Team Seven. That didn’t mean he wanted her to die.

 _‘The first of Team Seven to actually die,’_ he thinks. And while Sasuke was dead to Konoha, and him, he was still alive, rampaging somewhere.

Standing at where her house used to be, he couldn’t help but reflect on how he had never gone to her house before. Never had a reason to, he reminds himself. Were it not for Naruto demanding for a trinket of hers to remember her by, he wouldn’t even be here.

Kakashi carefully navigates through the rubble, pushing up a broken beam to expose a basement staircase.

A basement? All houses in Konoha had to have registered basements and he knew the Haruno’s didn’t have one.

He picks his way down the staircase, the stench of fear growing with each step. Was it Mebuki’s? Somehow that didn’t seem right. Something didn’t seem right at all and he couldn’t put a finger on it.

What _was_ it?

He channels chakra into his eyes and the shadows of the basement became clearer. He freezes. There was a metal stretcher outfitted with leather straps, deep grooves carved into it that Kakashi recognises for draining blood. It looked like a scene from Orochimaru’s lab. Not from a hearsay rumor, but as one of the Anbu that had confronted Orochimaru. Except this is- _was_ his one-time student’s home and the smell... He recognises the smell of _this_ blood.

And it’s Sakura’s.

Kakashi sprints back up the stairs. Helpless fury raged at the back of his mind as he leaps across the debris, further and further away from ruins of Konoha.

‘ _Sage, let it not be what I think it is,’_ he begs.  

The stench of blood had been so engraved in the stones of the basement that it stank from years and years of rot.

He wrenches his mask down and vomits out bile, shoulders heaving and shaking as he tried to stop his rapid breaths.

He should have seen it, _should have_ noticed! Should have-

“Senpai?”

Kakashi spins around, his kunai half-raised until he recognises Yamato and Genma.

“What’s wrong?” Yamato asks.

Was it Mebuki?

Kakashi didn’t want to think ill of Kizashi, soiling the decades of good comradery. Kizashi had been marked as a good person in his mind. If he couldn’t trust his own instincts then what _could_ he trust?

It couldn’t be Mebuki, he realises. Sakura was taught by Tsunade-sama. If Mebuki tried to pin Sakura down, Sakura could have broken free in an instant.

“No. She wouldn’t-” he mutters, running a ragged hand through his hair. Even he knows enough that a traumatized child might not have tried to free themselves. But Kizashi... If Mebuki was doing things that, Kizashi would have, _should_ have known.

Kakashi pulls his mask back on, rushing past Yamato.

“Senpai”

Kakashi dodges the senbon and the wooden hand, dashing towards the hospital where he knows the piece of shit is. None of the intercepting Shinobis succeeded in stop him, he isn’t going to let anyone stop him from finding out the truth.

He glides into the room, grabbing Kizashi’s by the hair, pulling his head backwards as he places his kunai against Kizashi’s throat. A Nara’s shadow attaches itself to Kakashi’s shadow, freezing his body but Kakashi doesn’t care as long as he can still talk.

“Explain to me,” Kakashi says. His voice was surprisingly cold and calm. Kakashi didn’t think he could sound this calm, not while his heart was thundering in his chest. “How you tortured a little girl for _years_.”

“I don’t understand,” Kizashi replies, attempting to sound innocent even when Kakashi had made it obvious he knew he wasn’t. The facade Kizashi had played for years, the facade that Kakashi hadn’t seen through, until now.

If he had seen through it sooner, done something, played a bigger role in Sakura’s training. _Anything._

“Don’t lie to me,” Kakashi snarls. “I was in your _basement_. The blood that seeped into the stones had been there for _years!_ Not to mention the smell of fresh blood!”

Movement in the emergency room halts, Yamato and Genma perch on the window, wide eyed. They probably had thought he had gone crazy and honestly Kakashi feels like he had.

“The blood of your daughter! The smell of her fear. She was your _child!”_

Kizashi only inclines his head, a smile twitching over his lips. “I had to give her the tools that no one would give her. Even if it meant hurting her.”

Tools that Kakashi hadn’t given her.

The shadow loosens and Kakashi drops the kunai, sick.

This is all his fault.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta and I discussed on AUs. AUs where Kakashi found Sakura instead of Shikamaru (and she died), and such. And so! I wrote this for them. If you have any requests, do leave a comment and I'll see what I can do.
> 
> Beta-ed by: [kokoronokingu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kokoronokingu)


	2. Where Sakura succeeds and Kakashi finds her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in Chp 6 where Sakura succeeds and Kakashi finds her instead of Shikamaru.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger warning:** Suicide and death in this chp, but the title is fairly explanatory. 
> 
>  

The mission took him longer than he expected. With the reemergence of the Sound shinobis, Konoha couldn’t afford to not take proper measures. Kakashi heaves a sigh of relief, after being released from the Hokage’s office. All these debriefings and patrols were starting getting to get to him. 

Not to mention his rebellious little student had defected, his blond kid was taken by Jiraiya and leaving him with only the pinky. Though he can’t complain, he muses. Sakura, even with all the trauma she had endured, would get better under one-on-one attention. He takes a deep breath, filtering out Sakura’s scent from the others and saunters into training ground three. 

He pauses. 

Team Seven’s old training ground. It oddly hurts less than Kakashi expected, to be reminded of Team Seven. They were forced onto him and he held them at a distance because they weren't _his_ team. But Sakura, she's different. He chose to stay with her, despite knowing it'd be easier not to. 

Better get back searching for her, he mentally nudges himself. Kakashi returns to searching for her scent and notices that the scent was overlaid with heavy grief. It wrenches something in his gut. A fission of fear scuttled down his spine. 

He knows this smell, remembers the terrifying memory no matter how much he wants to forget it, to shove it down and away to the deepest depths of his mind. 

There is a red hitai-te on the grassy bank and her scent stops here. 

_The tatami mats squish under his bare feet, the cloying metallic smell assaults his senses._

Kakashi turns slowly to face the river. There is something at the bottom. 

If there's a god out that, please. _Please._

Kakashi dives in, using his chakra to propel faster. 

_Please._

He grabs her by the waist, pushing as fast as he can to the surface. His chakra is flaring an emergency medic sequence even as he flickers to the bank. 

_I'll give you anything, just please._

He pumps her chest, trying to force the water of her lungs. Pumps and pumps. A medic arrives only to tell him to stop, to give up. 

_Anything._

“Please,” he whispers, curling over her body. “I just wanted to save one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funnily, all the AUs suggested by you guys are sad/angsty AUs. XD; I'll write them as requested, but don't complain that I only write angsty AUs. =X
> 
> I won't be working on the main fic until the last week of feb cuz of family stuff.
> 
> Beta-ed by: [kokoronokingu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kokoronokingu)


	3. Where Sakura accidentally calls Kakashi, dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Sakura accidentally calls Kakashi, dad. 
> 
> Just fluffff, set in the distant future where Sakura is older.

After a long three weeks wading through the swamps of Kiri, Sakura was glad to be finally back in Konoha. Beside her, Genma’s sandals squeak with each step now that he’s removed the silencing jutsu. He hadn’t been as good as controlling his chakra from his sandals to prevent them from being waterlogged - not that it matters when one is as good as him. 

_‘One pm at the Mission office,’_ Genma signs and she signs an affirmative, too tired to even speak. 

Sensei was assigned a classified mission before she left so she’s not expecting anyone home. The house is as quiet as she expects when she drops her mission pack into the storage cabinet and sinks onto the edge of the genkan, hands cupping her head.

She could fall asleep here. Sensei won’t be home anytime soon so she won’t be blocking anyone. Her eyes are already closing with that thought then snaps open.

There’s a faint smell of miso.

She toes her sandals off, her feet leaving dirt imprints on the dark cedar floor. Sensei is leaning against the counter, stirring the soup while reading a book.

“Oh~ Sakura-chan, you’re back. Just in-”

She bounces towards, arms outstretched and he reaches out catch her. “Dad! You’re home!”

His arms circle around her, spinning a little around to halt her momentum and they freeze. Her words seemingly hang in the air. 

Had she been less exhausted and a better grip over her mouth, she wouldn’t have said those words so thoughtlessly. She braces for a rejection or a correction, certain that all she had with Sensei was an apprentice-master relationship, but Sensei does neither.

Sensei pets her head, and returns stirring the soup, flipping the fish in the other pan. “Ohhh…” he clears his throat and ducks his head. “Will my cute little daughter serve the rice?”

She beams, hugging tighter onto him and all ~~Sensei~~ Dad does is to put a chocolate on her palm and returns petting her head.


	4. Where Sakura wields a battleaxe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in the future, kinda post c3 of this AU series.
> 
> FLUFF

Sakura swings onto Okiku with her weapons slung across her back. They had sent Dad ahead to decimate the enemy troops, something that she had scolded them for. She knew without a doubt that Dad would exhaust himself protecting them if she wasn’t there to watch him; to watch his back.

She hears his chidori even before she smelt the ozone. She could feel Okiku’s flanks heaving from beneath her feet, whether it’s from exhaustion or anticipation, Sakura’s not quite sure. The war had taken its toll on them all, especially Dad.

Dad spears three Iwa-nins with his chidori and without needing a cue, Okiku rams into the fourth, Sakura slicing through the fifth. She leaps off Okiku, her tanto takes down another two and she throws it into another’s neck as he tries to sneak up on Dad.

No one is taking her dad from her.

“We’re going to have a talk about you throwing your tanto in mid-battle again,” Dad yells. His chidori splutters out and he deftly dodges a punch an enemy throws at him.

Sakura swings her bare hands at the enemy, her chakra pulsing on the base of her wrist, releasing her massive battle axe into the man. She jerks the axe out, swinging it with ease and Dad and Okie duck under it with well-practiced movements.

“We’re also adding the usage of non-approved weapons to the list!” He shouts..

“Holy sage, the axe head is bigger than her torso!” Naruto says in awe. “Sakura-chan! That’s so cool! I felt the floor shake when you killed that man!”

“More fighting, less talking,” Dad says.

“But Kaka-senseeeeei! You always teach Sakura-chan cool stuff, dattebayo!” Naruto ducks a punch and rams a rasengan into an enemy’s knee.

“Maybe you should ask your godfather for more stuff rather than pestering my dad,” Sakura replies with a grin. The earth shakes as she strikes another down with her axe, this time creating a small crevice.

“Bah. That ero-sennin is too busy ogling at women half the time. There was this time that Sakura-chan was in the onsen and he-”

“JIRAIYA! HOW DARE YOU PEEK AT MY CUTE LITTLE DAUGHTER!”

“I’m _twenty_ … Not little anymore, dad.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was reading the new "Kill your heroes" chp and I couldn't stop thinking about Sakura and her battleaxe. So here we go.


	5. Where Sakura has a failed attempt and ends up in a coma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Sakura had been trying to call for help the whole time, but the others didn't realize. One day, she broke down and suicided (failed) ended up in a coma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger warnings:** Suicide, depression, suicidal thoughts

The invasion went as well as Sakura would have thought. She is Sakura, the second apprentice of Tsunade, the one that Tsunade grudgingly took, the one abandoned by her own team.

_You’re talentless, useless kunoichi, you’ll never amount to anything._

Sakura sits in the shower room.

She’s tired.

Why should she keep trying? No one hears her. No one see her.

Haruno Sakura, daughter of Haruno Kizashi. If she had a title like those in the bingo books, it’d be Sakura, the Invisible.

Iruka-sensei didn’t see her scars, Kakashi-sensei didn’t see her broken and newly mended bones, Tsunade-shishou didn’t notice she stopped turning up for practices.

Sakura digs into her forearms, trying to ground herself.

‘ _I don’t want to die,’_ she thinks. Her lungs shudders, trying to force air into her lungs.  She doesn’t want to die, but she’s tired of trying.

It’s not like it matter anyway.

She has no friends, no teammates, no teachers. The Haruno clan would be happy to see her gone and Papa…

Sakura bends forwards, putting her head between her knees.

She can’t do this anymore. Pulling out a kunai, she grips it so tightly that her knuckles turn white. If she does this, she can end all this. Kunoichis are supposed to brave. She would be a coward if she couldn’t even kill herself.

 _‘No one cares!’_ She screams at herself.

Her hands are shaking and she takes a deep breath, and plunges.

✥.✥.✥

 There was a strange sense of foreboding when Yamato woke up that day. As the day passed, his gut seemed to coil in onto itself and an almost frantic sense felt like it was overwhelming him.

‘ _Is it Senpai?’_ Yamato thinks, hurrying to the one place he knew Kakashi would be.

He finds him again at the monument and completely without a scratch. “Are you okay?” Yamato asks him, flipping him around to pat him down.

“Yes..?” Kakashi asks hesitantly.

So if it’s not Senpai, then-

Yamato wordlessly leaps away, searching for Naruto who was energetically downing bowls of ramen with Sai.

‘ _Definitely not him,’_ Yamato mentally crossing him from the list and Sai. ‘ _Sakura!’_

He flickers across the village, uncaring that Kakashi is following him closely.

‘ _Where is her new apartment?’_ He tries to recall, but the female of his team had always been distant in spite of his attempts to befriend her. Professional but distant and almost cold.

“Senpai do you-”

Kakashi rushes pass him, leaping up two flights up and breaks down a door. “Sakura-chan?” he hears Senpai call out. Yamato follows him into the tiny apartment, the stench of blood disorienting him briefly.

‘ _Why would there be blood?’_

His thoughts halt at the sight of Kakashi cradling Sakura, trying desperately to heal her bleeding arms.

“Yamato!”

He hurries forward, medical chakra leaping from his fingertips. “She lost too much blood, Senpai. We need to get her to the hospital.”

Kakashi forces a blood replenishing pill down her throat and creates a clone. “Heal what you can, I’ve sent a clone to alert the ER.”

Yamato sinks his chakra deep into her and sees the multitude of fractures and bones broken over and over again. He’s seen this in Root, but Sakura’s not Root.

_Professional but distant and almost cold._

The cold closes on him like a vice. If anyone should have noticed it, is should have been him.

‘ _Hold on Sakura. Just one more time, just a little longer.’_ Yamato knits her veins back as fast as he can, but he’s not her. He’s just a shinobi with _some_ medical skills, better than an average shinobi, but not good enough.

✥.✥.✥

Sakura doesn’t wake. With that amount of blood loss, she wouldn’t be waking up any time soon.

Days lapse into weeks, then months.

Kakashi brings her home. Team Kakashi takes turn sitting by her, always leaving one member behind to watch her. Tsunade says that there’s nothing physically wrong with her.

Kakashi stares down the teammate and can’t help feeling like he’s failed everyone.

“Hey Senpai?” Yamato starts, running a hand across his chin. “I think…”

“I think that Sakura was abused,” Yamato says, his words barely stirring any air. Kakashi sits up, fisting his knee. “Her bones, her muscles and tendons… Unless she had been… caught in a bad mission and was tortured for a long period…”

Yamato palms his lips. “I think the reason why she isn’t waking-” He takes a deep breath and turns to look intently at Kakashi. “Is because she doesn’t have anything to come back to. Because I don’t think that abuse was new… and yet no one saw it.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BluevsRed requested for this, so here we go! I'm still working on the requests, feel free to continue leaving any if you like. 
> 
> There's a long list of angsty requests tbh. I'm kinda trying not to pile all the angsty ones together XD Hope you liked it!


	6. Where Naruto and Sakura are secret friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Naruto and Sakura are secret friends. Then Wave happens, they panic at Naruto 'losing control' and decide that the smartest things to RUN. Kakashi follows, finds out about everrrrrything.

Naruto smuggles two expired conbini1 onigiri into Sakura’s pocket. He’s spent his last dumpster diving to pick out food for Sakura. Sakura smiles faintly at the sudden weight in her pocket and taps a finger on the table - their own secret code for thank you. She doesn’t look up and he doesn’t pause to talk to her. They both know they can’t be friends in public. Naruto has seen her flinches whenever they spar and knows it’s not from the fear of fists but the twinge of a healing wound. He’s seen the way her mother looks at him, seen Sakura’s mask. He knows her mask as keenly as he knows his own - the bubbly, sunny personality to throw people off.

His stomach growls. _Maybe Iruka would part with a bowl or two_ , he thinks.

And when he goes home with a stomach full of warm soup and noodles, he thinks of Sakura eating the cold expired onigiri under her bed.

Tomorrow, he’ll steal a bento for her.

 _Iruka-sensei talked about having variety,_ he thinks. Stealing a fresh bento might get him into trouble, but when has he not been in trouble?

 

✥.✥.✥

 

 _Today is Wednesday!_ He almost bounces in joy at the thought of it, drawing little hokage hats all over his worksheet.

Wednesdays are days Sakura’s father and mother aren’t around.

Wednesdays are the days that he can be sure that Sakura is safe.

Wednesdays are the days when he sneaks into her room and they do homework together.

Sakura have been looking more tired than usual. Has her parents forgotten to replenish Sakura’s ration bars? Maybe he can steal from one of his Anbu watchers a ration bar pack?

“Naruto.”

He looks up from his doodles, surprised that Shikamaru has approached him. After all, they never hang out on Wednesdays.

“My dad wants you to come over for dinner tonight,” Shikamaru says, looking apathetic as he always does.

‘ _But it’s Wednesday,’_ he almost replies.

Naruto doesn’t. Considering Shikamaru’s pattern, replying that would require an answer why Wednesdays are special. No one can know about Sakura. Jiji didn’t care when he asked him about adults beating children. He only said that they weren’t supposed to do it out of training. Jiji only cared for him, but it didn’t extend to Sakura.

He glances to Sakura and her circle of ‘friends’.

“Troublesome, I know you always ask Sakura out for ramen on Wednesdays. But she always rejects you anyway,” Shikamaru yawns.

‘ _But that’s their way of confirmation.’_ Naruto looks down at his drawings then puts on a wide grin for Shikamaru. “Is there going to be ramen?”

“Yes.”

Naruto wonders if he should be worried about Shikamaru’s dad. What if Shikamaru’s dad is like Sakura’s dad?

Naruto nods and gives him a thumbs up. “I’ll be there!” He says, carefully not looking at Sakura.

 

Shikamaru’s dad is almost exactly like Shikamaru - grumpy and lazy. He slurps down the noodles with great speed, answering Shikamaru’s parents questions with full mouths. They don’t scold him and they don’t look disgusted at his antics.

Naruto immediately decides that there must be an u-te-ri-er mo-tive for asking him over and his thoughts on asking Shikamaru’s dad help for Sakura’s dad is a no-go.

They teach him shogi and by the time he is allowed to go home, the moon is high in the sky. Shikamaru’s dad insists on walking him back home so he can’t just ditch and go to Sakura’s.

And the fact that he hasn’t gotten to speak to Sakura is making him anxious. Is she okay? Did her dad beat her up real bad today? The raion bar he stole from Shikamaru’s kitchen weighs heavily in his pocket.

“You should come over on Wednesdays,” Shikamaru’s dad says when they finally reach his apartment.

“I got to ask Sakura out!” Naruto says.

“If she keeps rejecting you, then maybe you should stop trying to force it,” Shikamaru’s dad tells him gently. “She said no. You should respect it.”

Naruto understands that. But he can’t let Sakura go. They are best friends. Naruto have Jiji, the weird dog Anbu and Iruka. Sakura have only him.

He only smiles at Shikamaru’s dad. “I gotta keep trying! She said maybe the other day!”

“Naruto…”

“Thanks for dinner! Bye!” He says loudly and hurries into his apartment. His door slams shut behind him and he tugs off his sandals, trooping through his messy apartment to the balcony. If he hurries, he can make it to Sakura’s room before bedtime. A shadows falls over him as he’s slipping his sandals on and he looks up carefully.

There hasn’t been any shinobi attacking his apartment since three years ago after Dog took care of them - but that doesn’t mean it can’t start again.

Shikamaru’s dad stands over him, with a deep frown.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Naruto looks down at his feet, shoulders tense.

“You can’t keep stalking Sakura, Naruto… She said no, let it go, okay?”

‘ _But who’s going to feed her?’_ he almost says.

Shikamaru’s dad is a higher ranked shinobi, almost as high as Jiji. If he doesn’t listen, things can go really bad for him and that’s okay if he had to be honest. But if things get worse for Sakura, she might not be able to take it.

Naruto can only nod and agree.

✥.✥.✥

 

Naruto has a monster in his stomach and he’s on the same team as Sakura. This is the worst thing that can happen. What if the monster gets set free and eats Sakura? What if he’s the monster?

Sakura thinks it’s bullshit and clings onto his hand, refusing to let go. She can’t, won’t let go. It was his food gifts that kept her going through academy, it was him sneaking in on Wednesdays that made her hold on.

So what if he has a monster in his stomach, or even if he’s a monster? He’s _her_ monster, _her_ Hokage-to-be. She’s going to make him get the Hat if it’s the last thing she does.

 

But that changes when he loses control on the bridge.

 _If they let Kizashi walk free, who’s to say they won’t just put Naruto down for losing control?_ Inner asks. _What’s the use of Naruto if he’s not doing his job properly?_

Sakura packs Naruto’s things and hers and convinces him to run away while Sensei is still recuperating from the fight.

Naruto listens to her because she’s far smarter than him and can see six steps ahead of everyone else.

They put Sensei’s training to good use, silently running over fields and grasslands, leaving no trace but they’re not Sensei-good. Sensei finds them quickly enough.

“Naruto, Sakura. Care to explain why you’re running away?” Sensei asks, twirling a kunai around his finger.

Naruto shivers beside her from Sensei’s killer intent though it doesn’t faze her as much. Sensei is serious. Serious adults are bad news. She can see his fingers twitching minutely and realises that maybe Sensei won’t even wait for them to return to the Village.

 _Over our dead body,_ Inner snarls.

She snaps ropes and Naruto’s in a fluid movement and yells, “run!” Shoving herself forward, she swings her kunai at Sensei, hoping to buy Naruto enough time to get away, but Sensei is better than she can ever be. Even with her fledgling genjutsu skills and improved taijutsu, she’s nowhere good enough to be even a hindrance for someone of Sensei’s calibre.

Sensei, dodges all her attacks, his wire looping around her ankles then wrists.

“NO!” Naruto leaps at Sensei with a snarl instead of listening to Sakura. His eyes are glowing red, his fingers elongating into claws.

“Run you idiot!” Sakura shout.

“And let you stay alone in the village with your _parents?”_ Naruto snarls.

Sensei grabs onto Naruto’s wrist, twisting it up his back. “Now, calm down. Please explain to me what is going on?”

Sakura says silent. She knows that there regardless of what her answers are, there will never be any answer that will be good enough and answering is always be more incriminating than silence.

This, however, isn’t something Naruto has learnt.

He wiggles in Sensei’s grip, howling and snarling until Sensei says in a stern though softer tone than Sakura has ever heard. “Naruto, Sensei promises to fix all this if you tell me what’s wrong.”

“Everything is wrong! Letting Sakura’s dad walk free=”

“Shut up Naruto!”

“-her mum, her-”

“SHUT UP!” Sakura shouts louder. The wires bite into her skin, drawing blood.

“The two of you take a deep breath. Sensei can only help as much as you let him, okay?” Sensei says. “Sakura, stop moving around so much. Now Naruto, are you going to attack me again if I release you?”

Naruto stares mulishly at the ground and Sensei’s prompt, he nods a single aggressive nod.

Sensei releases him and turns to release her. “Now, would someone tell me what is going on?” He asks, but no one gets a chance to answer when he channels medical chakra into his hand running it across her wounds.

 

Sakura screams, thrashing in his arms. “No! Please!”

“Get away from her!” Naruto pushes Kakashi off her and presses his forehead against her. “Sakura-chan! It’s me. Uhm... We’re in the forest somewhere in Wave Country. I don’t know today’s date! Uhm… there are six kunai in your pouch? Sakura-chan!” He hangs onto her tightly, trying to remember what he read about snapping people out of their minds.

“We are in Natsuyami forest, six hours north of Minamiawaji City. Today is the sixth July. We were having a disagreement. You are safe,” Kakashi says, crouching close by but not close enough to loom.

Naruto glances at Kakashi then continues hugging Sakura tightly. “We are in Natsuyami forest, six hours north of Minamiawaji City. Today is the sixth July. We were having a dis-agee-men with Kaka-sensei. You... are safe,” Naruto says, copying Kakashi’s words.

Eventually Sakura’s trashing stops and her body stills, her face pressed into his jacket.

“Will you explain what is going on now?” Kakashi asks in a sombre tone. Sakura’s out cold for now and Naruto thinks that if they couldn’t do it together, it’d be very unlikely that he could evade Kakashi with Sakura on his back.

“Sakura’s dad is a hugggge asshole, everyone likes him, but Sakura’s dad likes to… _cut_ her up,” Naruto whispers the last few words. “No one believes us though. And her mum doesn’t give her food. Sometimes they even forget to give her ration bars.”

He clenches his fists, unwilling to look up. He’s tried too many times, been rebuked too many times to even _hope_ that Kakashi would listen.

“So Sakura-chan said… and I agreed with her… that… if the village could let Sakura’s dad walk around like that… then… then…”

“Then?” Kakashi prompts gently.

Naruto lifts his head up, staring into Kakashi’s single grey eye. “Then who’s to say they’d put me down for losing control of the demon.”

“Naruto…” Kakashi’s words are ragged like Naruto’s words had hurt him. “Naruto, I _won’t_ ever let anyone hurt my students. _Ever.”_

Naruto only smiles a large fake smile. “That’s what Mizuki said too, you know?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This request is actually a lot longer than my summary and is actually from the previous chp, requested by Arwin01. I liked this and bounced it around almost immediately. (Goodbye frog chp). So here we are. It was starting to turn into a multi fic story by itself, so I compressed it all and heh, chopped parts off.
> 
> Poor Shikaku, he's technically doing it right. Just not in this situation..
> 
> I recently liked this alot. I read "For want of freedom" by Throughthemirrordarkly, and I highly recommend it if you like the dark tones of ESR. Wondered what happens if in this universe if Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi found out wayyy earlier too. 
> 
> **Further notes:**  
>  1) Conbini - Conbini actually refers to Convenience stores in Japan. In their Convenience stores, they sell ready-made food, like Onigiri, Bentos, dons, etc.


	7. Part 2 of Chp 6

Naruto is the quietest Kakashi had ever seen him been before. Sakura doesn’t say a word when she wakes, placidly letting Naruto lead her around to the small campfire Kakashi had made and holds the onigiri that Naruto gives her.

He replays that moment several times, eventually deciding that Sakura’s bad reaction had been triggered when he tried to heal her. He’s met Kizashi before, worked with him on some missions and Kizashi had been professional and competent, dependable. A man that abuses his own kid, no. A man that tortures his own kid if what Naruto said is right.

Kakashi swallows the rising bile, trying vainly to pretend that everything is okay. Uprooting her from her childhood home won’t be pleasant. Ibiki and Anko owes him a favour, several in fact. No, Sakura would need someone stable to stay with. He chooses not to think of himself, Kakashi knows he can barely adult on some days. He is the last person that is capable of taking care of Sakura.

Naruto takes back the onigiri, peels the wrapper off and replaces it in Sakura’s hand. With Naruto’s prompting, she takes a bite, eyes still staring blankly at the fire.

Naruto averts his gaze when Kakashi raises an eyebrow at him.

“Sometimes she floats,” Naruto explains reluctantly.

 _Dissociation,_ Kakashi’s mind helpfully supplies.

“Then she forgets to eat and forgets where she’s needs to go.” Naruto plays with the wrapper, his voice is soft and Kakashi is surprised that Naruto knows how to modulate his voice.

“I’m not…” Naruto pauses and draws a breath, looking up to stare straight into his eyes. “I’m not afraid they put me down, you know? Sakura-chan, she’s is getting really bad. If they put me down, then Sakura-chan’s not gonna have anyone else. Can’t leave her alone, you know? And Mizuki. He, you know?”

Kakashi grips Naruto’s shoulder. “I promise on my father’s grave, the pride of Hatake that _nothing_ is going to happen to you or Sakura-chan, okay?”

It’s a weighty promise to make and few shinobis ever make it, but it’s obvious with Naruto’s skeptical eyes that he neither understands the seriousness of Kakashi’s promise nor believes it.

Kakashi can’t blame Naruto, even though it hurts so much that it feels like his lungs are burning.

“Sleep, Naruto. Tomorrow, we’ll go find Sasuke and when we reach Konoha, I’ll personally speak to the Hokage.”

Silently, Naruto cleans Sakura’s hands and together in a pile, they go to sleep.

Kakashi stays up all night, wondering how he or anyone missed this.

 

✥.✥.✥

 

“Sakura-chan.” Kakashi catches her elbow just outside the Hokage Tower. “Come with me,” he says. She nods, following him quietly.

Kakashi can’t help but wonder if she’s still in the middle of a dissociative episode. It’s hard to tell, especially when Naruto says that she’s at pretending to be okay. It’s a mask, Kakashi realises when Naruto follows them, jabbering loudly to Sakura. Naruto’s one-sided loud conversation hides the fact Sakura is barely functioning, especially when he hooks Sakura’s arm, ‘towing’ her along.

Genma frowns when he answers the door. “What is it, Kakashi?”

“Yo,” Kakashi smiles at him, subtly flashing ‘ _assist’, ‘protect’_ to Genma. “Have you met my cute little students?” He pushes his students in and ruffles their hair - slowly for Sakura, and Genma is quick to notice the slight difference in treatment.

“Oh yes, come in and have some tea,” Genma says dryly. Sakura and Naruto peel their sandals off, making their way across the small apartment and taking a seat across Raidou who pours fresh cups of tea for them.

“I need you to look after Sakura,” Kakashi tells him once they’re out of earshot. “There is an ongoing investigation and it is suspected that Haruno Kizashi has been abus- torturing Sakura.”

Genma’s face hardens and he nods. Kakashi glances at Sakura. Had he not guessed that she might be going through something, he would have never noticed.

“Watch her.” Kakashi turns away. “I suspect she has dissociative episodes. Naruto can tell when she’s having them.”

“Kakashi, they’ll be fine in our care.” Genma pushes him towards the door. “Now, go. Make sure that bastard suffers.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By popular demand


	8. Reflections

Kakashi sits on the Hokage Mountain watching the festivities roar in the streets. Today will be the second year after the Chuunin Invasion, after Sandaime had passed. Snow sailed closer from the dark, night sky. Fluttering back and forth on the gentle breeze. Akino sneezes then shuffles deeper into the dog pile around him.

“Sensei!” Sakura waves There is a thick white fur wrapped around her neck, the long sleeves of her furisode swings as she approaches him. “I brought brought Osechi Ryori from the Mariko’s Restaurant.”

Setting the large lacquer box between them, she hands him a pair of chopsticks and he pours her a small glass of sake. They take a bite from the box and taking time to chew the delicately prepared food.

Okiku wraps herself around Sakura, blinking doefully at her until Sakura gives her some kuri kinko.

“Good thing we have so many dogs,” Kakashi says with a laugh.

“Sensei?” Sakura sets aside her chopsticks. She turns towards him, legs folded in a perfect seiza position, fingertips barely skimming the ground.

“Thank you for taking care of me for the last two years,” she says, bowingly so deeply that her forehead almost touches the cold ground. “If it hadn’t been for you, and Genma-nii, and Raidou-nii, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“Sakura-chan…”

“There are no words that properly convey my gratitude. But I hope-”

“ _Hatake Sakura_ ,” Kakashi says in an unnaturally stern voice. “You are my student.” His eyes soften, and he squeezes her shoulder. “There’s nothing I won’t do for my student. So there’s nothing to thank for.”

She sniffs, wiping her tears away with a finger. “Thank you Sensei. Thank you, thank you.”

In the distance, they can hear the temple bells sound, echoing throughout the village. He puts the sakazuki in her hands and together hey down their sake.

“Happy new year, Sakura.”  

“Happy new year, Sensei.” She sneaks a salmon kombu roll to Uhei.

After everything that has happened, it’s good to see that she can still smile and in two weeks, he won’t be there for her anymore. He’s done all that he can to help her succeed her dream.

“So Sakura, do you think you can pass your anbu test?”

“Mou! Sensei! Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” She pouts. “Anbu _commander_ -sama.”

He knows she can do it.

“You can’t always be asking _Sensei_ for answers.” He snatches the chicken from her chopsticks and pops it into his mouth with a shit-eating grin.

He knows she can do it, but she can never say it confidently. It’s something that they’ve been working on. Kakashi won’t give up making her feel valid.

He bops her on the head. “Sakura-chan…? Repeat after me. I am Hatake Sakura.”

“I am Hatake Sakura…”

“And as a Hatake, I will…”

“And as a Hatake, I will astound everyone! With my lateness and bad habits and trashy romance novels-”

That brat. Kakashi bops her on the head harder and Sakura sticks her tongue out at her.

“And I will surpass their expectations.”

He smiles. “You will. I promise you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to add what the various Japanese words are. So.
> 
> Osechi Ryori: A traditional Japanese New year food that comes in huge lacquer boxes that are shared between family. 
> 
> kuri kinko: Typical food in an Osechi set. It's basically candied chestnut with sweet potatoes
> 
> sakazuki: a traditional old sake cup


	9. Where Sasuke had noticed it earlier and things go differently

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pre-massacre.

Sasuke hesitated in front of KMP building. Konoha Military Police Headquarters was a place that he was instructed never to come unless in need of emergency. He was certain that his father would be still at his office. Suspecting abuse _would_ be an emergency, right?

He clenches his fist and marches in, pausing near the map. _‘Protect the Village, Protect the Children._ ’ The words above the map with the markers of orphaned children living alone hardens his resolve.

“Father?” His feet stills at the doorway, his father hunched over the stack of paperwork.

“Sasuke. What are you doing here?” Father frowns at him and for a brief moment, Sasuke entertains the thought of running away.

Shinobis don’t run away. Sasuke steps forward, forcing himself to take a mission briefing stance that Iruka-Sensei had taught them a few days ago.

“I…” His mission stance quickly is broken by him bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously. “Wishtoreportchildabuseandneglect!” He says.

Father pauses in his paperwork. “Child abuse?” He waits for Sasuke to nod before asking further. “Of who?”

“I… caught my classmate Naruto stealing onigiri from the dumpster?”

“Uzumaki.” Father sighs heavily and resumes his paperwork. “Was it at least a pink bag?

“...Yes?”

“Good.”

“...Father? I don’t understand. I thought-”

“Uzumaki’s a special case. As you know we check up on orphan children living alone, except for Uzumaki. The _Council_ insists that they do a special check for him and even though we’ve been trying to get them to rescind their order so that we can properly oversee Uzumaki, our attempts-” He motions with a hand. “-Have not won us any favours as you can see. We’ve attempted to impose merchants to properly sell goods to Uzumaki. Which- The pink bag is their concession.”

Sasuke plays with the hem of his shirt, trying to decipher the meaning of his father’s words. “So the pink bag... “

“Isn’t expired food.”

“Oooh.” He hops one on each foot. “Father…? Naruto… He isn’t stealing it for himself. My classmate Sakura- I caught him-”

“Sakura?”

“Uhm… Haruno Sakura. I think… I think her father beats her. Whenever Iruka-Sensei’s raised arm passes over her, she flinches and she never have lunch and Naruto is always passing her food at night and she’s super super quiet and-” He trails off, wondering if he’s wrong.

“And?” Sasuke looks up at his father’s prompting, surprised to see his father giving him his full attention. “Sasuke, _and_ what?”

“I heard Naruto trying to tell Mizuki-Sensei once, that’s why I started to notice. But Mizuki-Sensei said Naruto was lying. So. But- I-observed-her-for-a-period-of-two-weeks-like-nii-san-said-a-good-shinobi-does-and-I-think-he’s-right.”

Father nods and stand, calling out to his secretary outside. “Akane, summon Hikaku and Tajima, and Izumi too. Tell them we’re going hunting.” He ties his batons onto his belt and holds his hand to Sasuke. “Come, if you’re right, your classmate might want a familiar face.”

Sasuke takes his father’s hand, relishing in the uncommon contact. “She’s part of my fangirl group, but I don’t think she actually likes me.”

Father hums non-committedly as they walk down the hallways and stop in the Map Room. Sasuke can see Hikaku doing a quick check of his KMP uniform at one of the cubicles. “Why do you say so?” Father asks after a while.

“Why do I say so?” Sasuke blinks at him, having forgotten his original statement.

“Why do you say she’s doesn’t like you?” Father nods at Hikaku when he approaches along with nii-san’s girlfriend, Izumi.

“Oh! Her eyes are blank. The girls were bullying her before… she joined.” He shrugs. “Makes sense she might have joined just to stop- Tajima-jisan!”

“Sasuke!” Tajima grins and ruffles his hair. “Who are we hunting?”

“Preliminary check first of Haruno Sakura’s household. Izumi-san, your priority is to secure the child. Hikaku-san, Tajima, you know what to do.”

✥.✥.✥

In the end, Father said that they hadn’t needed a preliminary check before dashing into the house. Tajima-jii had secured the house as well as Sakura’s mother who had tried to sneak away. Before tonight, Sasuke had never seen Father fight. Father and Sakura’s dad had fought briefly, almost demolishing the house. He has to correct himself. Nii-san’s is the most awesome shinobi, but Father is the most epicests.

“Sakura-san?” Sasuke says carefully.

The pink-haired girl stared at him with blood streaked over her, not even flinching when Izumi tried to clean her wounds. What pain tolerance! He always cried when nii-san cleaned his scrapes.

“Sakura… _chan?_ ” He tries again, holding her hand out like he’s seen Shisui-nii do sometimes to smaller kids “Would you like me to… fetch Naruto?”

This time he gets a nod and her fingers wrap around his hand. All he can wonder is why no one noticed how skinny she was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so like. It's 8am, I went to bed at 4. MY MUSE WOKE ME UP TO WRITE THIS. *grumps* I might have forgotten to mention it, but Sasuke is like 7 in this. So this is like a melding between Chp 6 and something something. I liked the idea that the Uchihas got shit for trying to defend Naruto and were seen as power hungry clan instead.


	10. Where Sakura becomes Anbu and a mission goes bad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Character Death & Violence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hound - Kakashi  
> Monkey - Genma  
> Dove - Gai  
> Otter - Sakura  
> Horse - random guy 1  
> Coyote - random guy 2

Sakura wasn’t terribly amused at Sasuke’s ego. Team Yaken* had a long history of mission success since their conception three years ago. To think that he could take on six Anbus, not to mention three of them had terrifying bingo pages attached to their masks was the height of arrogance.

Sakura had arrogance beaten out of her by Raidou after she had gotten her mask. There will always be someone far better you, they taught her.

 ~~Sensei~~ Hound-taichou wasn’t very amused either, but regardless of their personal feelings, Team Yaken had never underestimated an opponent, no matter how ridiculous the disparity seemed.

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he tries to parry Hound-taichou’s blade.

Terrible form, Sakura notes. He defected for this? Sakura couldn’t stop herself scoffing mentally.

“I thought you could take six anbus?” Hound taunts. “I’m the only one fighting and you’re already having issues.”

Monkey who is keeping track of Coyote’s genjutsu field tapped out thirty seconds left.

It’s a pity Hokage-sama had requested them to attempt bringing Sasuke in alive. They would have been on their way home already if it was a simple assassination. Monkey’s poison senbons hadn’t worked on Sasuke so now it is up to Coyote’s genjutsu to take him down.

Sakura monitors the field, taking down another Oto-nin who tried to interfere.

“So this is what the fussss is about,” a lazy drawl says from the other door. Orochimaru pulls the sword out of Horse and Horse to the ground, his blood pooling around.

Dead, Sakura realises. She leaps forward, her sword unsheathing to catch Sasuke’s blade, letting Hound trade opponents.

“So what are you supposed to be?” Sasuke sneers. “Rat?”

Sakura doesn’t bother to banter and his poor attempts of riling her up is laughable.  Monkey isn’t counting down on Coyote’s genjutsu anymore, they’ve joined the fray with Hound and Dove to keep Orochimaru at bay.

She ducks his double kick, sweeping his legs out. Sasuke recovers in time to dodge her tanto and she’s mildly impressed. Few people recovers that fast. She follows up with a kunai, rushing forward to clip his chin. Unlike their plan A, Sakura isn’t waiting around for a non-lethal takedown. Sakura is trained to be lethal and it shows in her attacks.

Sasuke barely dodges her next attack. She needs to be faster. Sakura channels her chakra to faster, speeding her movements drastically. Sasuke grunts as her blade slices through his shoulder. His sharingan spinning furiously like it’d help him keep up with her.

She blocks his hoof kick, slamming a kunai into his thigh. Then he surges forward, his blade sparking, into her side. The lightning knocks the breath out of her briefly, her muscles twitching.

Sasuke is bleeding out from his thigh wound, but it’s clear he doesn’t care. Slowly doing his hand seals in front of her. No, not slowly, his right arm is scarcely responding from the wound in his shoulder. It doesn’t matter. Her muscles aren’t responding and Sakura _knows_ that hand seal sequence. She can do this, she knows its weaknesses.

_Raiton: Chidori_

Her body shifts, inching far too slowly to the side. She swings her blade at the same time, choking back a back a scream as the chidori grazes her side. Her flesh rips apart, blood splattering on both Sasuke and her.

“Otter!”

Sasuke’s head tumbles on the ground and she staggers. She dodged most of it, but-

Sakura sways. The world spins in her vision, her lungs heaving for more oxygen. She falls hard on her knees. Putting a hand on her side, she tries to stop the bleeding with her medical chakra; except her mind was too muddled to properly concentrate on healing and her medical chakra flickers out.

She feels arms picking her up, a cacophony of noises followed by a blast of wind.

She’s losing time. Dove is on her right now, green-lit hands clamped over Sakura’s side, leaping in tandem with the man who has her on his back.

“Otter!” Hound says again, he turns his face to look at her.

Oh, she’s on his back.

It’s not as bad as it looks, she tries to say, only to cough blood onto her mask and dribbling down onto his vest.

 

 

Kakashi’s mask is wet just like Monkey’s is. Sakura needs an emergency operation and no matter how good a medic Dove is, he won’t be enough. Kakashi forces his muscles to push faster, even at the risk of leaving behind the team. Monkey would understand.

Predictably, neither Monkey nor Coyote says anything when they break away, only popping a soldier pill to push himself even faster.

Dove tries his hardest. Sakura is growing colder on his back, even when Kakashi tries to emit more warmth to keep her temperature up.

“Sakura-chan!” He can hear her heart beating slower with each passing minute. “Don’t you dare give up!”

Her breath rattles in harsh and painful gasps and Monkey pulls her mask off to let her breath easier.

“Come on kid,” Monkey urges her. She blinks with glazed eyes.  “You promised Naruto anmitsu, remember?”

Kakashi’s legs are burning. He’s probably torn some muscles, forcing his body to put out speeds like this.

“Se... n… se… i…” She smiles at him even as she coughs more blood.

“Stay with me, Sakura-chan!” He shuddered, wanting yet not wanting to hear her heartbeats. “Sakura-chan!”

“Put her down now!” Dove commanded and Kakashi quickly whipped her off his back, laying her down where Dove pumped her chest. “Kakashi! Electric shock!”

He quickly forms the seals, lightning sparking across his hands and presses down. Her body jerks.

“Come on, Sakura-chan!” Dove pumps her chest frantically. “Sakura-chan!”

Eventually Dove stops and rips his mask off, pressing his grimy sleeve against his wet eyes. “I’m sorry,” Gai says.

Genma slides down against the trunk, gripping his monkey mask tightly.

“Taichou,” Coyote squeezes his shoulder.

Kakashi drew a ragged breath then stands. “Mission complete. Let’s go.” He turns, falling back onto the protocols ingrained in him, seals Sakura into a black lined scroll and leaps towards Konoha.

 

 

Kakashi sits in the kitchen staring at the empty chair opposite him.

Without Sakura to anchor her, Ookiku had returned to the summons realm. He doesn’t stumble over her anymore and now there is a strange emptiness in this apartment.

He tries not to look at her shelf full of weaponry, tries to ignore the bookmarked novel lying on the kitchen counter.

His dreams are now nightmares of him leaping through the forests with her bleeding out on his back. At least she doesn’t accuse him in the dreams.

Sage, why had he taught Sasuke that skill? If he hadn’t then-

He takes a swig of his sake bottle and slams it down hard on the table.

Should have, could have, would have. When is he ever going to do something that he didn’t regret?

_Pathetic._

Kakashi stares at the empty chair until the moon rises and draws its light across it.

_”Sensei!”_

“Sakura-chan-” He palms his eyes and sobs.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, should be working on the last chp, but ehhh... plot bunnies? I'd say I'm sorry for writing another sad AU, but let's be serious, I'm not.  
> If anyone missed it, Sakura did kill Sasuke just as he chidoris her.
> 
>  **Further Notes:**  
>  Yaken means Stray dogs, which is kinda a joke cuz its members are Sakura & Kakashi who both summons dogs.


	11. Kakashi & Sakura: Birthdays (Fluff)

Sakura bounces along the road, making a beeline to the Amasaki teahouse.

“Anmitsu, anmitsu~” She stops just outside the teahouse with Yamato close behind and turns around to huff at them. “Sensei! Genma! Hurry up!”

Genma leans over to Sensei, holding out a five thousand ryo bill. “Bet you she’ll eat five bowls of anmitsu.”

“No bet,” Sensei replies, not bothering to even look up from his book.

Sakura flickers back, snatching Genma’s money. “I bet I’ll eat _ten,”_ she says smugly and pushes Sensei forward. “Hurry up, Sensei! Amasaki has the _best_ anmitsu in _all_ of Fire Country. They only make six hundred bowls in a day!”

Sensei staggers forward, not really resisting her pushing but not really assisting either. “Yes, yes. Moving…”

“ _Sensei!”_ She pouts and steps away, hands flashing a series of seals.

Kakashi starts, reaching out to her, “Sakura-chan, there’s no need to—”

“ _No,_ Sakura!” Genma yells at the same time. takes several steps back from them.

_Kuchiyose Summoning_

Okiku appears in a large poof of smoke, more than a head taller than Sensei, sitting on Sensei’s now supine form. Yamato looks heavenward, muttering words that Sakura can’t pick out.

“What did we say about summoning in towns?” Sensei mutters.

“You promised me birthday anmitsu, Sensei! Are you going back on your words?! What if they run out!”

Okiku drags Sensei across the street, bounding towards the teahouse and shoves Sensei’s dusty face towards the waitress.

“Reservation for four under Hatake,” Sensei tells the lady as though a large wolf dog holding him up by his jacket isn’t something special.

“Ah, Hatake-sama!” The waitress bows, sliding the shoji door all the way open then eyes hesitatingly at Okiku. “I— I am afraid your… _dog_ would have to stay outside. We have no doors big enough for it to enter.”

Okiku drops and wuffs at Sensei. “Thanks Okiku! I’ll takeaway some anmitsu for you!” Sakura chirps, pushing Genma and Yamato in.

The waitress ushers them to a private room and sets anmitsu and mochi in front of them. “There are fourteen more servings, so please let me know when you’d like your next.” She bows, sliding the door close behind her.

“Let me know… _what?”_ Sakura blinks at Sensei.

“Ooohya?” Genma loops his arm over Sensei’s shoulders. “Someone _reserved_ portions? Sakura- _chaaaan_ , Kakashi reserved _fifteen_ portions of anmitsu for you.”

“Oh, one for every year,” Yamato adds. “This anmitsu is very good.”

“Happy fifteenth birthday!”

 


	12. Where Sakura survives pein attack and team 7 goes to her place to pick her only to find her in mid of all the tortures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by Suruchi88*! Sakura survives pein attack n to bond together team 7 (kakashi, Naruto, said n tenzo) goes to her place to pick her. And find her in mid of all the tortures (Mebuki dies but Kizashi doesn’t)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Trigger warnings:** Dissociation episode? I'm not very good at writing it, but well!

Sakura hurts. She's tired of this. Even with a new team, a new captain, nothing ever changes. 

She retreats into herself, letting Inner cradle her in her warmth as Papa slices a muscle on her calf. She schools her breath, breathing through pain just like Papa had trained her to. If she doesn't show any reactions then Papa said he'd— 

“What are you doing?!” 

The scalpel in her leg disappears, and a blur that she registers as Papa flies and hits a wall. 

“Oh sage, Sakura-chan?” Cool hands cup her face, a blur of brown hair cuts open her restraints, pressing clinical hands down her chest. “Sakura-chan?”

She licks her lips, sluggishly putting a name to the face. “Yamato-taichou?” Her words slur and he frowns, running medical chakra across her scalp, thinking she's concussed but she's not. Returning to herself is always difficult after Papa’s training, something that Papa has been trying to beat out of her. 

She slides her eyes across the room. Sensei is standing over Papa and Sai has ink snakes wrapped around Papa. 

Yamato-taichou's picks her up, settling her head on his shoulder. She hears a low growl from Sensei but she can't pick out the words. She's too tired to. 

When Papa comes home, her punishment will be harder. 

She needs more of it to keep up with her team - Naruto with his endless stamina, Sensei with his thousand and one jutsu, Yamato-taichou and his mokuten, Sai and his special ink technique. Sakura is nothing compared to them. 

She feels Taichou set her down, his special brand of chakra canvassing her body, sealing the incisions Papa had made. 

_No more medical chakra!_

She draws further inwards where its safe in her mind. It only ever hurts outside. 

Sensei suddenly crouching in front of her. The fabric beneath his mask is moving. The sound of his voice filtering through like she's underwater. 

"Sakura-chan?" 

"Hey Sakura-chan, come back to us."

"He won't ever touch you again. If he tries, he'll have to go through all of us. Come back, Sakura-chan…" 

But what's the point? 

Sakura is nothing. Tomorrow, the sun will rise, Papa will be home and training will resume again. 

And Sakura will still be nothing. 

✥.✥.✥

Kakashi rages.

The evidence they find, the fact they were witnesses to his ‘training’ are all damning enough to convict Kizashi. He bites his tongue back everytime the comment that Kizashi is a good man floats across the room.

He wants to fault them, call them out for being blind, but the truth is that Kakashi isn’t angry at them, he’s angry at himself because he _too_ had thought the same words, wondered how Sakura had turned out that way.

The council insists that Kizashi be let off with community service, that his skill as a medic is invaluable now.

Kakashi thinks that nothing should be put above the safety of a child. They don’t see Sakura as one, to them Sakura’s a full-fledged Chuunin and she’s one person to the rest of the people Kizashi have and may save. 

Their verdict sits like acid in his mouth. 

 _‘This is the village they serve?_ ’ Kakashi wonders if there will ever be a time where the people’s well-being becomes important. This cannot lie, Kakashi won’t and with a glance to his team, he knows they, save for Sai, share the same feelings.

✥.✥.✥

“Kakashi,” Inoichi greets without looking up as Kakashi slides through the window, his genjutsu peeling away to his tired eyes. “Are we doing this now?” 

Kakashi nods. 

“I’ve made iron-clad alibis for us,” Inoichi tells him. “Shikaku, Yamato, you and I. along with twenty people are presently at a restaurant.” He stands, adjusts his uniform. The dark grey T&I uniform is an ominous reminder of Inoichi’s speciality.

 _‘It’s not ominous in this case,’_ Kakashi thinks.

There is his pink-haired student in his apartment, watched over by Naruto’s numerous clones. 

He’s found out too late, cared for her too late. There’s nothing much he can do for her now except hope.

Inoichi rolls up his well-worn toolkit. The sound of the metal picks and various needles clatter against each other in the silence of the room. 

Revenge, on the other hand…

Shikaku melds out from the shadow, absentmindedly wiping away a splotch of blood. “Target’s been captured,” he says.

Inoichi nods. “Let’s go.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Further notes:** If you're waiting for a sequel of Early Summer Rain, it'll be only at best at the end of the year. Otherwise next year. I'm on discord if you'd like to discuss AUs/Sequel. 
> 
>  
> 
> [Discord: https://discord.gg/VCTDwN](https://discord.gg/VCTDwN)


	13. Where Naruto and Sakura are secret friends and Naruto tells Shikaku instead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An AU of secret friends AU. Wondered how it'd go if Naruto told Shikaku instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For revelance, you'll need to read the first to part of chp 6.
> 
> I made Naruto sound more street gutter. Or rather, I attempted to make Naruto sound more street gutter, but really Corryn did the heavy lifting xD

Move to <https://archiveofourown.org/works/20839082/chapters/49539386>


	14. Where her parents survive and Sakura kills them instead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Requested by someone... I think on discord. I'm sorry I forgot!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I skimmed through most of the violence, but do note that there is violence and a tinge of insanity here. 
> 
> It's 2am and my muse insisted I write this instead of going to bed...

Sakura reaches out to the people who she should have mattered. Team is family. Family is love. She thinks she understands love. Love is all encompassing. Love is pain. Love is enduring.

Sakura is right.

Sakura is also wrong.

Things are not right, she realises. A father shouldn’t hurt their child, a mother shouldn’t starve their child. 

Sakura reaches out, but no one reaches back. She is alone. Always alone, always will be. Sakura doesn’t break, she isn’t weak. 

Sakura rips the red cheongsum, strip the white circle on her back. Today she turn back on them.

They say Konoha is the will of fire, Konoha is family, Team is family. Sakura has none of them. She has never been a Haruno, never been loved, never had a real family. 

Her kunais are sharp in her pouch, her ninja wire is stolen from the old Uchiha compound. Even to this day, Uchiha wire is still the best ninja wire - sharp and never dull.

She strokes her father’s face, just the way he always does when he starts. She strokes her mother’s face. 

Do they see her now?

She murmurs the same words her father speaks when he makes the incision, the same methodical pace he uses and when she’s done, she does the same for her mother. 

Their blood pool on the dining floor, onto the chairs she’s never used before and smiles.

She’s a red, bloody mess, her clothes are beyond repair but she feels so much lighter now and for once in her life, Inner is silent.

“ _Sakura,_ what have you done?” a voice she hadn’t heard in years says behind her. 

Slowly, she turns to see Sensei staring at her. His fellow shinobi equally shocked. 

“Oh nothing,” she replies and throws back and laughs. “Nothing they didn’t do to me.”

“What?”

“No one would save me, so I saved myself.”

 


	15. ShikaSaku Soulmate AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shikamaru never spoke to Sakura all through school. Who would have thought that they're soulmates?

Truth to be told, Shikamaru always felt a sort of connection to Sakura. She was a friend of Ino’s and had she continued being friends with Ino, he might have spoken to her… _eventually._ Then they “broke up” over a boy who wasn’t even their soulmate and even talking to Sakura became a chore. He would be a fool to go out of his way to anger Ino.

Shikamaru ignores that he had six years to talk to her in class, also ignores the fact that she had sat directly in front of him for five of those years.

Shikamaru wouldn’t even be here, had Naruto not extracted an implicit promise from him to watch out for Sakura. He isn’t sure what set her off, or if the extend of his promise just got bigger because she needs him to pull strings for whatever reason. 

Picking up a large rock, she steps into the middle of the river. The back of his neck prickles, something demands him to do something. 

 _She’s doing some form of training, right?_  

Thoughts of what training this could be vanishes when she plunges into the river.

_“Promise me, Shikamaru! A shinobi promise, ‘ttebayo. Promise you’ll watch out for her!”_

Shikamaru hurries forward, placing a foot onto the river and curses when his foot dips below. He glances at the spot she drop in and puts another foot onto the churning water. 

 _Patience, Calmness,_ Shikamaru forces himself an artificial apathy, bends his chakra to his will. His footsteps are not as fast as he hopes to be and Sakura’s been under far too long. His mind calculates the speed of the water below the surface, estimates where she might be.

He refuses to think that _maybe_ he might be picking up a body.

He’s not too late. Not yet. Academy training requires them to be able to stay at least seven minutes. Squatting down, he splits his shadow and as he reaches, she bursts through the water gasping and coughing. 

If this is a suicide attempt like he think it is, then throwing a big fuss might be bad. “Oh thank the sage, I thought I was going to have to get wet,” he says, choosing to sound apathetic instead and his chest constricts. A sense of a pull and tug binding them threatens to choke him. 

_Soulmate._

Shikamaru grabs onto her, hoisting her up. Sakura is his soulmate and he just almost lost her. His heart thumps rapidly in his chest. He can see the curve of his words winding down her wrist. 

“What in the sage of the six name’s were you doing down there for so long?” he asks. Sakura doesn’t need to answer his question. Her green eyes are sad and tired like the doe looked when her partner died, all ready to curl up and die.

He carries her to the shore. He almost lost her - almost lost her had Naruto not forced him to make a shinobi promise. Shikamaru now owes Naruto a debt he cannot repay. He’s not even troubled over it. He’s just glad.

“Thank you,” she says eventually. She startles and Shikamaru watches her handwriting paint onto his matching arm. 

“We’re… soulmates?” Sakura whispers. 

 He nods. They’re perfectly matched, he thinks.  Now that he knows, he won’t let her go.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know ESR isn't a romance fic, but ehhhhhhh I wondered about them being a soulmate AU. I was planning to write more of this, then my muse (who helpfully fed this when I'm supposed to be sleeping) went BUT WHAT IF THEY KNEW WHEN THEY WERE KIDS AND SHIKAKU NOTICED THINGS. So there's that, and um, yea, This is more of Shikamaru's POV than a soulmate AU anyway.


	16. Part 2 of chp 9 (Where Sasuke noticed and things go differently)

"Teme? What are _you_ doing here? And why is Sakura-chan with you?" 

 

Naruto is more quieter than Sasuke could ever imagine him being when he knocks on the door. 

 

"Naruto-san," Sasuke starts then scrunches his nose up at the stench. "What is _that_ smell?" 

 

Sasuke covers his nose with his arm, pushing his door open. There are empty cups and boxes everywhere, enough that Sasuke might mistake it for a garbage dump. Regardless of what has gone on tonight at Sakura's house, there is _no way_ Sasuke is going to let her or Naruto sleep in such a dirty room. 

 

Sasuke wants to yell at Naruto for letting himself live in such… such… garbage, but nii-san told him that people who have had trauma should be spoken to in level voices. 

 

"Pack your things—" Sasuke casts another eye around the room. " _No_. Leave your stuff here. Follow me."

 

He will have extra clothes for both Naruto and Sakura. Shoes too, Sasuke mentally tacks on. 

 

He glances at Sakura. She had grabbed Naruto's hand when Naruto offered but refused to release his hand, clutching his fingers tightly. Sasuke wonders if this is how Shisui-nii feels when he holds Shisui-nii's hand. 

 

The walk home is surprisingly peaceful. Lack of the glares that Sasuke often got. Just looks of disbelief. 

 

Sasuke has to admit that the three of them walking in a row is a funny sight. 

 

Okaasan doesn’t react when he turns up with Sakura and Naruto, only turning to tell nii-san to prepare the ofuro.

 

“Kaa-san, I was going to bring Sakura-san to Naruto-san’s apartment, but it’s like a garbage dump! It is a nest for diseases!”

 

Naruto mumbles something under his breath. It’s probably something rude and obnoxious as Naruto always is, so Sasuke ignores it to his best ability.

 

Kaa-san leads Sakura to the bathroom, while nii-san beings setting stuff out for a late-night dinner. Naruto devours the ochazuke down, rice flying all over the table and onto his shirt. 

 

And as he reaches out for his own bowl from nii-san, nii-san smiles. “Good job, otouto.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any AUs/scenes, you'd like to see, do post on the comments :)


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